CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, January 24, 1994
3
Haskell's expansion presents difficult issues
Harassment, housing head list of concerns
By Denise Nell Kansan staff writer
Haskell Indian Nations University is experiencing its share of growing pains.
With the addition of a four-year elementary education degree program in August and plans for more to come, Haskell is evolving from a junior college into a university. Issues such as student-staff relationships and sexual harassment are being examined now, said Hannes Combest, educational assistant to Haskell president Bob Martin.
Haskell's Board of Regents will meet tomorrow through Thursday to make decisions on some of these issues.
The 15-member board will hear recommendations from Haskell's Quality Improvement Teams, groups composed of Haskell students, staff and administrators. The teams will tell the Regents what they think should be done about certain issues at Haskell. None of the recommendations will be implemented as policy unless the Regents approve them, Combest said.
One recommendation that will be made is that Haskell adopt a student-staff relationships policy. Combest said.
The proposed policy says that any sexual or romantic relationship between an employee and a student is not condoned by the university.
A sexual harassment policy also will be proposed to the board. Combest said regulations on sexual harassment always had existed at Haskell, although not officially. The proposed policy would formalize the process people should follow concerning complaints of sexual harassment.
Another team will recommend specific changes dealing with housing and admissions. Combest said many of the proposed changes were aimed at trying to keep up with the needs of a growing campus.
"Last semester we had 987 students on campus and 770 living in housing designed for 700," she said. "When an institution has that type of growing pains, we have to assure that students who are here are serious students."
Adrian Brown, Haskell's student senate vice president, said some of the proposed changes, such as the admissions standards, were necessary because students from around the nation were showing increased interest in the school.
The student-staff relationship proposal, how-
ever, was another example of the administration going too far in restricting students' lives, Brown said.
"People here feel like the policy is way too harsh," he said. "It complements the boarding school mentality. Basically, we feel like our legal system doesn't work. Instead of protecting students, sometimes it rids the school of students."
Sleepy Eye LaFromboise, Haskell's student senate president, said the senate planned to go before the board and present requests for changes in Haskell's stand on students' rights.
“One of the things I'm going to be working on is trying to get us the respect we deserve.” he said.
LaFoamboise said the senate planned to ask the board to consider providing students with a 24-hour study area. He said that in many residence halls now, students could not have visitors of the opposite sex past midnight. A common study area would allow students to study together after hours if necessary.
LaFromboise said the senate also would ask the board to extend visiting hours, eliminate weekly room checks in the residence halls and eliminate contribution hours. He said students now are required to "contribute" 40 hours each semester working for the school.
Combesat said that whatever the outcome of the meetings, the discussion of these issues had
Proposed changes
Esther Geary, director of admissions at Haskell, said some recommendations relating to admissions and housing would be made at this week's meetings:
Students must have a 2.0 grade point average on a 4.0 point scale to be admitted to Haskell. Students with GPAs below 2.0 would still be admitted, but on academic probation. Now, students may be admitted regardless of their GPAs without being on probation.
Students would pay fees each semester instead of once a year. Gaery said that now, students pay $25 for books, $25 for housing and $20 in activity fees in their first semester. Each semester following, they are required to pay only the $20 activity fee. The proposal would have students pay the entire $70 at the beginning of each semester.
The university should find some alternative, off-campus housing for the overflow of students in the residence halls.
Source: Kansan staff report
been healthy for Haskell.
"One of the things I have seen happening out of all this is that we've really had some good, active debate on these issues," she said. "It shows we're making the transition from a junior college to a university-level organization."
KANSAN
Haskell history
1984
Haskell officially opened as trade school for children called United States Indian Industrial Training School
Haskell expands academic training to students beyond the eighth grade
Haskell begins offering post-high school curriculum 035
Haskell evolves into post-high school and vocational-technical institution
Haskell becomes Haskell Indian Junior College
Anti-abortionists protest on anniversary of decision
Haskell develops a four-year degree in elementary education
Source: Kansan staff research
Dave Campbell / KANSAN
By Denise Nell
Kansan staff writer
Melissa Folds, Lawrence resident was pregnant and unmarried at age 16.
Jennie Zeiner/ KANSAN
"One of the first questions I was asked was, 'Would you consider abortion?' " she said. "I said 'no' immediately, and now I have a beautiful 17-year-old daughter. I look at her every day and think, If I'd had an abortion, I wouldn't have her."
Taking a moment to pray, Tracy Morris, of Lawrence, holds her 3-year-old daughter, Kelly, at the anti-abortion protest held Saturday in downtown Lawrence.
Folds was one of 150 people who marched Saturday down Massachusetts Street in protest of the Supreme Court's Jan. 22, 1973, Roe vs. Wade decision, which gave women the legal right to choose abortion. . .
Lawrence police led the march that began at City Hall and ended in South Park. Many of the marchers carried protest signs and pushed empty baby strollers, which they said signified the absence of a child who was aborted.
Some passengers in the cars shouted obscenities at the protesters, but Susan Smith, president of the Lawrence Kansans for Life chapter and organizer of the march, said what she noticed most was the onlookers' lack of attention.
"Most of what you're finding here is apathy, indifference," she said, pointing to a woman in a car who was staring straight ahead and ignoring the protest. "They're so numb to it, they don't care."
Lawrence Smith, another protester, said he hoped the march would have helped change the minds of some of those people.
"It's always kind of nice to think someone will see a sign, and it will make them think a little deeper about it," he said.
Teresa Weide, Lawrence graduate student and president of KU Students for Life, attended the march
with one other member of the group, Tina jinkens, Seneca graduate student. At least two other members were unable to be at the Lawrence march because they were marching in a protest at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
Stephanie Gabriel, Orland, Calif,
sophomore and head of KU Pro-
Choice Coalition, said she would be
attending an event today in Topeka
that would celebrate the Roe vs. Wade decision.
"One thing I've heard talked about in my classes is that people are uncomfortable with both sides," because both have been extreme, she said. "But I don't feel being pro-choice is being extreme. We're not necessarily pro-abortion, but we accept the fact that people can't make decisions for someone else."
Survey: Patients satisfied with Watkins
By Ashley Schultz
Kansan staff writer
An overwhelming majority of patients who have used Watkins Memorial Health Center are satisfied with the services they received, according to a student satisfaction survey released by administrators last week.
"Both of these types of surveys tend to be very random patient samples either in the lobby downstairs or throughout the building." Jim Boyle, Associate Director of Student Health Services said. "We hand them questionnaires and have them fill them out, and we have collection boxes at all the exits."
Boyle said that one problem with those kinds of surveys was that there was no way to be certain that the administration received responses covering all doctors and departments. The fall semester survey attempted to remedy that problem.
The administration of Watkins and the Student Health Advisory Board each conduct a survey to gauge student satisfaction with the center.
Almost 97 percent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with services at Watkins.
"This survey, we specifically pulled from our computer patients' names who had seen specific doctors, and sent questionnaires to those patients for an evaluation of their satisfaction with the services they received with that specific doctor and the health center in general," Boyle said.
The center hopes to receive at least 100 respondents with each survey. It sent out 225 questionnaires in the fall survey. So far for the fall survey, 114 questionnaires have been returned.
The administration usually conducts one survey each for the fall and spring semesters, Boyle said. It also conducts surveys to evaluate new staff members or programs as they arise.
The surveys were mailed early in December so that students could return them before semester break. It didn't quite work that way—one response didn't find its way to Boyle's desk until Friday. Another problem with the mailed surveys was that the response rate was significantly lower than for its in-house predecessors, Boyle said.
Boyle said that negative responses were sporadic and that no negative trends or problem areas were identified. Respondents who had questions or problems were called back.
"I if handed out 200 surveys in the building, I'd probably get 180, 190 of them back," Boyle said.
"Patient wait is an unfortunate phenomena of people walking in," Boyle said. "The students tend to walk in right in the middle of the day."
The negative responses usually had to do with patient wait, Boyle said. Questions concerning patient wait were absent from the fall survey.
Boyle estimated that 70 percent of the center's patients are walk-in patients. He said the limitations of the building and an increasing volume of patients were partially responsible for the lower rate of patients with appointments.
"If we had, for instance, two patient examining rooms per doctor instead of one, with the same staffing level, we could probably see 13,000 more patients a year than we are doing now," Boyle said.
From 1983 to 1993, the volume of patient visits to the center have more than tripled, but satisfaction rates have remained above 95 percent. For the last five years, the center has set records in patient volume, Boyle said. Another record is expected this year, with more than 50,000 physician visits anticipated.
Volunteer counselors help juveniles in court system
Study tries to gauge success of program
By Roberta Johnson Kansan staff writer
These people, called CASAs, help children and foster families meet the physical and emotional needs of the child, including ending the court processes as quickly and as easily as possible.
Children trapped in the court system and bounced between homes need stability in life, and some communities, including Lawrence, are finding that Court Appointed Special Advocates may be the solution.
The number of new child-in-need-of-care and juvenile offender cases in Douglas County nearly doubled between 1986 and 1990 but has declined since then.
Kids in care and crime
Peggy Kitten, assistant district attorney, said that many "children in need of care" have become juvenile offenders.
The number of Child In Need of Care and Juvenile Offender cases in Douglas County generally has increased in the past seven years. Although there is no direct correlation, many CINC cases become Juvenile Offender cases in later years, said Peggy Kittel, Asst. D.A. CINC cases are benefitted by the CASA service.
Mary Ann Jennings, Lawrence graduate student, is conducting a two-year study with the School of Social Welfare and the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund to evaluate the effectiveness of CASAS. John Poertner, professor of social welfare, and John Pierpont, Topeka doctoral student in social welfare, also are involved in the research.
They are studying how long it takes
For the past two years, the Douglas County CASA program has been available to help many children in the court system.
a child to be placed in a permanent home, how long a child is in the court system, whether children with CASAs get more of the services they need and if visitations are monitored.
Douglas County, Wichita and Hays CASA programs are being used in the study.
There is also a comparison group of children without CASAs, but Jennings said that they would not deny any child the opportunity to get a CASA if one is needed during the two years.
Previous studies of CASA programs in Kansas City, Kan., San Diego and Louisville, Ky., had shown that children with CASAs benefited from having a personal volunteer and that they would be adopted more often than those children without one. Respondents also said that CASAs represented the children's
needs well in court and provided support for children and families.
The studies did point out a few potential problems with the programs. Some respondents indicated that CASAs have not received enough training and are, as a whole, from white, middle-class families, which may make the volunteers less sensitive to cultural issues.
Elaine Riordan, director of Douglas County's CASA program, said that about 80 percent of volunteers in the United States were middle class but that Douglas County had an extensive training program, which includes cultural sensitivity.
Riordan also said that if Jennings' study showed any problems with the program, CASA would use the information to improve the program.
"We're not doing this study just to get a pat on the back," she said.
Student dedicated to cause
CASA volunteer wanted to make difference in one child's life
By Roberta Johnson
Kansan staff writer
Peter Thomas, Lawrence junior, wanted to make a difference in one child's life.
The problem, he found, was that it would take longer than he had expected.
Thomas became involved with the Douglas County Court Appointed Special Advocate program last February. He originally had applied as part of a sociology class requirement.
"I had a misconception going in that I would hook up with a kid, figure out what they needed and make sure they get it." he said.
Riordan said that Thomas was one of the few men, and just one of several KU students, who is involved with CASA.
During training, Thomas learned that being a CASA would take much more work. He works a minimum of six hours each week contacting lawyers, social workers and any other professionals involved with the case. He is also required to turn in a monthly report to Elaine Riordan, director of Douglas County's CASA program, and give additional reports each time the child is referred to the courts.
He said that the first priority of a CASA is to keep the family together unless it is absolutely necessary to separate them.
"Removing the child can be more damaging than leaving them in there," he said. "Every effort is made to keep the child in the home and to work out the problems, whether it's abuse, lack of financial means or simply the parent and child not getting along."
"Ihada
"It's not like being in Big Brothers
"I had a misconception going in that I would hook up with a kid,figure out what they needed..."
Peter Thomas
Lawrencejunior
or Big Sisters," he said. "A CASA makes sure the needs are being met and identifies the shortcomings. There's a lot of phone calls and interviews, trying to get needs met."
Court appointed lawyers and social workers have between 20 and 30 cases each, Thomas said. A CASA receives one child, and therefore is more aware of specifics about the case.
1
Riordan said that involvement with CASA requires at least a one-year commitment. Some children are locked in the court system for several years, she said.
Thomas is planning a career in social work, helping in juvenile offender or children-in-need-of-care cases. He volunteers at Cottonwood, Inc., an organization that works with the mentally ill, and at Independence, Inc., which provides home-based care for the disabled. He also helps Mary Ann Jennings, Lawrence graduate student, collect data for her CASA effectiveness research project. During his free time, he is a guitarist for the band Nudie Voodoo.
All potential volunteers undergo an extensive screening process, which includes criminal, reference and child abuse checks in addition to interviews.
Despite his schedule, Thomas plans to remain involved with the program.
"There's the potential the child could get lost in the shuffle," he said. "And so many kids don't have CASas."
The next informational program for potential volunteers is Jan. 31, Riordan said. Those interested should call 841-7700, ext. 172.